Travel - grace grits and gardening

at home in Astoria, Oregon

August 21, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

sunrise, Columbia River, Astoria, Oregon

This morning I awoke to cool breezes and the sound of sea gulls. Before I opened my eyes, I thought about how we are born into and become part of a place.

That place becomes part of us.

Those who live on the ocean live and breathe the sea like a farmer back home is consumed by the soil and weather and crops. Do peaceful sunrises and vivid ocean sunsets become commonplace and normal after a lifetime living near the water?

Maybe I could find someone willing to trade places for a year. I would willingly exchange one harsh, wet winter for another month like yesterday.

Sunset, Columbia River, Astoria, Oregon

talya

Powell Books, Portland, Oregon

August 19, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

Saturday we landed in Portland met up with our friends Craig and Lori and headed straight to Powell Books.

Powell Books, the largest independent bookstore in the world, was the first thing on my Portland ‘must-see’ list. John jumped on board—he’s a book addict too.

Craig and Lori graciously humored us.

Rooms and tunnels and passageways and nooks were crammed with new and used volumes spreading an entire city block. The throng of shoppers made staying together difficult, so we separated knowing eventually we would hook back up.

I became lost in Literature.

I stood in awe, absorbed within a million worlds. Walking between walls of every-colored books, I touched the spines, some brittle and ancient, some slick and new. I could have lingered two days but exercised extreme self-control and bought only one book. (Where’d You Go Bernadette—it’s on my ~~book~~ wine club list.)

John disappeared into Fiction in search of Donald Harrington books. He feels compelled to give every un-purchased copy of Choiring of the Trees a new home, and I love that about him.

Craig and Lori escaped to a bar around the corner.

talya

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
― Stephen King